In this icon of the Presentation, which is based on the account in Luke 2:22-38, the 'just and devout' Simeon is depicted on a pedestal, holding Christ piously in both hands, on the point of handing him back to the Virgin, who stands on the left.The Virgin is followed by Anna, the prophetess 'of a great age', who lifts her right hand in a conversational gesture and holds in her left an open scroll bearing the inscription: 'This infant hath made fast heaven and earth.'
Anna is turning her head towards Joseph behind her, who is carrying in both hands 'a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons', the Jews' customary offering for this ceremony.
Behind the figures are the buildings that give the scene its spatial context. Between Simeon and the Virgin is a pair of the bema doors with a low screen of green marble, and behind these the upper part of the altar, draped with a red cloth and with a red book lying on it.
Over the altar is a ciborium supported by columns and in the background the wall of Jerusalem is just discernible.
Behind Simeon and Joseph rise tall, narrow buildings, symmetrically flanking the figures in the scene.
Information obtained from the
Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Treasures of Mt. Athos